Trio Sonata.pdf

Trio Sonata and Concerto Grosso I chose to study the Trio Sonata and Concerto Grosso of Corelli because, frankly, I enjoy listening to them more as an instrumentalist than early opera. I’ve played the Christmas Concerto by Corelli before so this topic is much more relatable to me. When Corelli wrote his first Trio Sonata in 1681, many instruments, especially the violin had undergone some major overhauls allowing for more virtuosity. For this reason, most likely, trio sonatas tend to have two violins, a cello, and a harpsichord. There are two forms of trio sonatas. The Sonata da Camera was a more lighthearted work, based on dances such as the Courante, Allemande, Sarabande, and Giga, often started with a Prelude. These movements while based on dances were meant to be listened to rather than danced to. They usually followed a binary form (AB). The other trio sonata form was the Sonata da Chiesa, or of the church. These tended to be less lighthearted than the Chamber sonatas, and were often slower. Both forms usually had a walking bass line, and followed what in Harmony we call descending 5th sequences. While Corelli was known for his Concerto grossi (especially op 6), the form existed since 1675, by Stradella. Similar to the Trio Sonata it too has a da Chiesa and da Camera forms. The concerto grosso featured a concertino, soloist or soloists, accompanied by a ripieno, orchestra. There is often exchanges between the ripieno and concertino. Often when the concertino is playing a solo line, the ripieno is sparse. Due to this form, it allowed the path to what we now know as Concertos.